The 47-year-old Congress vice president filed his nomination papers for the post of party chief earlier in the day.

Rahul Gandhi had earlier filed his nomination papers for the post of Congress chief (File Photo)

Mumbai: Time and nation will decide on the leadership skills of Rahul Gandhi, who is set to be elevated as Congress president, a Shiv Sena MP said today.

The 47-year-old Congress vice president filed his nomination papers for the post of party chief earlier in the day.

"When a party elects its president, it knows what challenges it would face in future. They (Congress) faced debacle in the last elections. If they feel, he (Gandhi) is competent enough (to face these challenges), it is OK," Sena MP Arvind Sawant told PTI when asked about the Congress leader's imminent elevation.

"Let time decide. Off late, when he was abroad, the media said there was a change in Rahul. So let his coronation take place, let him occupy the chair, the country will also decide (on his leadership skills)," he added.

NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said Mr Gandhi's elevation is taking place at an appropriate time, wherein the country is moving towards "dictatorship".

"I congratulate Rahul Gandhi for his (proposed) elevation. This is happening at a time when the country is moving away from democracy and heading towards dictatorship and there is an urgent need of a powerful Opposition. A young leader of the country's oldest party will be able to understand and solve the issues of the youth, who account for more than half of the country's population," the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council said.

Mr Munde said he hoped Gandhi would succeed in uniting the Opposition and help check the rise of "communal forces" in the nation.

Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan said Mr Gandhi had spent enough time traversing the length and breadth of the nation in the last five to seven years to gain the experience required to head the party.

The former chief minister claimed the BJP fears Mr Gandhi's rise and is hence, criticising his elevation.

"He has travelled across the country and also abroad. The BJP is bound to criticise him as they fear his leadership. Due to his presence in poll-bound Gujarat, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) had to address around 15 public meetings there.

"The BJP also lined up a battery of chief ministers and Central party leaders to counter him," Mr Chavan said.